Mommy Camp

Last week was my favorite week of the year -- sleep away camp!

Technically, it's diabetes camp, but I like to emphasize the positive, which is that Mark gets to spend a week away at camp, roughing it, while I spend a week at home, doing the exact opposite. While my son enjoys the great outdoors, I enjoy a week of being child (and care) free. It's a win-win situation.

I drove Mark to the pickup spot, and waited patiently for the bus. (In 100 degree, humid weather, I might add.) Patience is the key word here, because Mark sorely tested every last ounce of mine during the 90 minutes of hell we spent waiting. All the other kids were clinging to their parents, and the parents were snapping pictures and dispensing last-minute advice and I love yous.

My sweet child spent the time making new friends, and tearing his name tag off. He wasn't brave enough to tear anyone else's name tags off, so he just scratched them out with a random Sharpie he'd brought. I put an end to that quickly.

"If you are trying to make me not miss you," I growled, "it's working."

Some very nice parents introduced themselves to me, and to Mark, who ignored them. They were fretting about their son's week away, which I don't understand. I wanted to say, "He's gonna have a GREAT time -- enjoy the time off!" But they were a little teary, and it seemed kind of callous.

Mark continued to sass me, and to ignore the grandma who pleaded with him to take a group shot with the other boys in his cabin. She looked at me, surprised (her grandson was an outgoing, polite young man). I shrugged apologetically and played the D card.

"He's really high right now, and pretty grumpy," I lied, straight to this poor woman's face. (I hadn't tested his blood sugar recently, but any good parent/grandparent knows high blood sugar turns their child into the devil.) It just seemed easier to blame his behavior on diabetes instead of brattiness, especially in an understanding crowd like this.

"Ahhh," she said knowingly, and promptly excused my very rude son for any and all bad behavior.

He finally climbed aboard the bus, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Until I saw him swinging back and forth across the seats, while all the other kids sat nicely. I motioned for him to sit down, and he stuck his tongue out at me.

He's not my responsibility now, I thought to myself, teeth gritted. I reassured myself that he behaves for everyone but me, and that he'd probably be really good at camp.

Needless, to say, I really enjoyed my week off after that!

Here are my numbers for the week:

• Times I ate dinner at happy hour: 3
• Movies attended: 2
• Times I ate movie popcorn for dinner: 1
• Times I cooked dinner: 0
• Nights I hung out with my friends: 6
• Nights I hung out on the couch watching T.V.: 0

I also attended one Stroll n Savor night, one book club, and one night visiting with friends from out-of-town. It was AWESOME!

Oh yeah, and Mark had a great time at camp, too! He came back exhausted, filthy, and smelly. ("I only took one shower all week!" he bragged.)

So, I am thankful for this yearly summer ritual, and to the wonderful people that put it on. I get time to recharge, a mom vacation, and Mark gets to spend a week having fun in a safe environment. What could be better than all that? (Maybe two weeks in Alaska!)

New shoes

Last week, I took Mark shoe shopping. The boy was positively giddy -- he LOVES shoes, and the prospect of new kicks sent him into hyperdrive.

Inside the store, I measured his feet and set him free. Before I could blink, he had four boxes of shoes spilling out onto the floor beside him.

He tried on the first pair, black skater shoes. He smiled with appreciation, then took off running down the aisle. "Pretty good," he admitted, then ran back.

The second pair sported white leather with a red and black skull on the side. I honestly thought he'd choose these, because he loves skulls, and any clothing items that feature skulls. But then he saw the third pair, and he immediately dropped the white pair right into the aisle.

I thought he was joking with the third pair. They looked like low-top Converse shoes, which wasn't surprising (he'd just outgrown his Converse shoes). What surprised me was the color:

"These are tight!" he yelled, and shoved them on as quickly as possible. He couldn't stop smiling.

And that's when I broke into a cold sweat. I have a natural aversion to anything too pink or too girly, and I'd thought having a son protected me from all that.

But I broke into a cold sweat for another reason as well. I always imagined I'd let my son be an individual, and that I would love him for exactly who he is. But this...these pink shoes...this was confirmation of exactly who he really is, and it scared me.

That's right, my worst fear was being realized. I couldn't hide from the truth, and I couldn't protect my son from who he is any longer. It pains me to admit it, especially here in a public forum, but turns out Mark is...gulp...another attention-grabbing Dinsdale.

I guess it shouldn't shock me. I've spent the last three years immersing him in our family, a loud, crazy bunch, with nary a shrinking violet in the lot. Of course he's going to pick shoes that stand out and make people notice him.

Personally, I don't care what color his shoes are, I just didn't want to waste my money.

"Those are the shoes you want?" I asked.

"Yes!" he cried.

I picked up a similar pair that were brown with pink stitching and trim.

"How about this pair?" I asked. "They have pink in them, too, just not as much."

But I couldn't sway him. He wanted the pinks, and held tightly to them.

"Fine," I said. "I just want you to be sure. I'm not buying another pair if people make fun of these, so be sure."

He was. He got a mischievous little glint in his eye and said, "I like to shock my friends. I can't wait until Gabi sees these!"

And so he walked out of the store proudly, strutting in his new hot pink shoes.

I followed behind him, admonishing him to tie his shoes. I was proud of my little man, who wears what he likes, and isn't afraid of what other people say.

And then I shuddered for exactly the same reason, as visions of class clowns, smarmy retorts, and being the center of attention filled my head.

Just what the world needs...another Dinsdale who loves the spotlight!

Return to the Lower 48...

July 12

Ketchikan was our last Alaskan port, by plane, train, boat, bus or car. I was sad to leave the city because it also meant leaving my new favorite state.

Sunday was a sea day, and of course, Princess offered lots of ways to spend our money. I returned to my room after breakfast to do a little packing. I hadn't allotted much time to this -- how hard could it be to stuff all those dirty clothes back into the suitcase? -- but it turned out to be more work than I'd planned.

Our whole group attended a cooking demo, followed by a galley tour. The galley tour was pretty cool -- the ship has 2000 staff members, half of whom work in food service (cooking or serving). There are seven galleys on board, which I found amazing after touring just one!

The galley was HUGE. There was an escalator (!) right past the entry, which took us down to the main galley. We passed a bar, the pastry area and the area where they cook up 60 gallons of pasta sauce at a time in huge cauldrons. We passed the dishwashing section filled with hoses and bathtub-sized sinks. We saw staff chopping pounds and pounds of vegetables, and then walked by all the different freezers. Some were for raw food, some for prepared food, some for meat and some for fish.

We saw the big fry daddys, and the grills. We also saw three cooks trying to tie a gigantic fish (must've been 50 pounds) to a giant ice sculpture. Even the kitchen staff stopped working to watch that! It was quite a show, as they wrestled the slippery fish and tried to wedge it between an ice wave and cloud.

Lastly, we walked past the refrigerators full of prepared appetizers for the day's lunch and dinner services. I left with a new found respect for the staff -- you could tell that it was hard work in a confined space there, and that you spent your day toiling over really hot pots and pans (cooking with them or cleaning them), or preparing food in really cold refrigerated areas.

Kathleen, Edra, Monica and I stopped by the casino to check out the slots tournament. I'd planned to participate during the afternoon, after I dropped Mark off at the kid's program. But the lady convinced me it would only take five minutes, and it seemed more fun to play with my friends than gamble alone. Mark was thrilled to spend a couple minutes with his Gameboy.

We ate lunch at the buffet, which was not usually newsworthy, except that today the pastry staff had gone crazy. They had a dessert buffet, with the most beautiful and delicate pastries and cakes you could imagine. They'd also carved sculptures out of fruit, and a giant bear out of ice, so it was definitely worth seeing. And to make things even better, they spotted a humpback whale just off the bow while we were chowing down our sugary confections.

After lunch, Mark went off to kid's club. We returned to the casino, hoping to be finalists or at least the wild card in the slots tournament, but apparently, our luck had run dry. (Of course, after our two weeks of good fortune, I had no complaints!)

My mom and the girls went off to tea, but I was still full from dessert -- er, I mean, my healthy lunch. So I spent a little more time on deck, enjoying the scenery, then returned to the room to finish packing. It took me a while, because I was distracted by the scenery, and eventually ended up out on the balcony just staring at the beautiful mountains and forests as we sailed by. (And if you ever wondered if a balcony is worth the extra money on an Alaskan cruise, the answer is YES!)

I picked up Mark and we all enjoyed one last group dinner together. Mark returned to Kid's Club, and we all went to the night's entertainment show. I only went because my parents had seen comedian a few nights earlier and raved about him -- otherwise, I'd have skipped it. The comedian was hilarious, and I couldn't stop laughing.

Falling asleep that night was really a bit depressing. I loved Alaska, and I was sad to wake up early, in another country. Vancouver seemed nice enough, and it would've been nice to spend some time in that city as well, but I was kinda tired and ready to go home.

All in all, I have to say this was one of the best vacations ever. I'm glad we did both the land and cruise tours, because seeing interior Alaska was amazing -- I'd go back to Denali in a heartbeat. I will miss not waking up to glaciers and whales off the ship's side, and I will miss the fresh air and all the beautiful trees. I will miss the eagles flying overhead, and moose along the roads. And even though we kinda sorta saw a bear on a faraway island, I will miss scouring the shores and paths in search of them. (I was both disappointed and relieved not to have had a close encounter with a bear.)

I will miss the nightly group dinners with all my friends, and not cooking a single meal in two weeks (I scorched my first meal the day after I returned home -- a grilled cheese sandwich!). I will miss being relaxed and busy doing fun stuff instead of going to work. I will miss spending so much play time with my friends, my son, and my parents.

Oh, and I will miss the cookie guy rolling his cart through the ship every afternoon!

But I won't miss it all too much, because it's still there, emblazoned into my head and heart (and even in my camera --1500 photos worth!). Alaska has touched me in a profound way, and I feel like a changed person because of it.

So today I may end my physical journey to Alaska, but I have a feeling I'll be revisiting this trip (in my head, at least) for a very, very long time.

Last Stop

July 10

Today was bittersweet in that we'd be visiting our last Alaskan city. The land tour was awesome, and the cruise has been spectacular, and so it was with regret I watched the ship pull into port.


We didn't dock until 10, so I actually got to watch most of it. (The previous dockings were much earlier, so I only glimpsed them briefly through the window.) But this one was very cool -- the inlet we traveled down was a really busy highway. Boats were docked and motoring past us, and float planes constantly took off and landed right alongside us. It was pretty cool!

The city is right next to the dock, so we had a great view coming in. I saw this cool mountain off to the side, which I later found out is the city's giant barometer. A tour guide told us you could tell what the weather's like based on the mountain.

"If you can see the mountain. it's gonna rain," she said. "And if you can't see the mountain, it's raining."



Apparently, Ketchikan gets a lot of rain!

But not today. Today, we experienced another perfect sunny day. It was cooler than it has been, probably about 70 degrees. However, the locals were sweltering in the "heat," and kept complaining about it. (Remember, these are people who live through 40 below degrees most of the year!)

Today's excursion started with a Duck Tour. The Duck is an amphibious vehicle -- that is, it drives around town like a tour bus, then drives into the bay like a boat. I couldn't wait!



Mark, my parents, Kathleen, Amber and I climbed aboard the Duck. The driver apologized profusely for the "heat" and for baking us inside while we waited for the last few passengers. (Did I mention it was 70 degrees, not 100??) He also pointed out the "quackers," or duck whistles, taped to the ceiling above, and noted that if the Duck lost cabin pressure, the quackers would immediately drop. He demonstrated, and gave the same safety spiel flight attendants do, saying to affix your quacker first before attending to small children. I knew this was gonna be a fun tour!

They also sold the quacker whistles for $3, but warned that as the tour went on, the price would rise. I wasn't quite sure why.

We departed, taking in the city and the incredibly bad jokes the tour guide told. Every time she told a joke, the people who bought the quackers blew them loudly and the rest of us groaned. Then she'd say, "OK, quackers are now $4!" and I understood why -- I'd have blown mine many a time!

We saw Ketchikan's famous steep stairways, which the city considers streets, because they access multiple dwellings.


We saw the creek where salmon return to the city, and the fish ladder the city built to help the fish get up the steep waterfall.

We saw Creek Street, which was famous for being Ketchikan's "red light district." We also saw the Married Man's Trail, which was a hidden trail through the trees. It allowed the town's married men some discretion as they visited the infamous Dolly's brothel. Dolly, ever the shrewd businesswoman, charged the married men an extra 50 cents for using the back path.

It was a pretty interesting little drive, and became even more interesting as we drove to the other side of town, where the locals live. (Most don't even venture into downtown during the summer tourist season.) We drove down a ramp and voila! we were now a boat!

The Duck boat didn't move very quickly, but we cruised through the bay, staring at the boats and the fish canneries. We drove past one guy living on his boat, who at first waved to us, and then for some reason, started to hula dance. I love the Alaskans; they certainly have a lot of character.
The tour guide pointed out Ketchikan International Airport across the bay on another island. She noted that only Alaska Airlines domestic flights actually fly in/out of there, except for one time, when a Canadian airline made an emergency landing. It was the only international flight ever to fly in or out of Ketchikan, but the "international" part stuck anyway.

The airport and island also had some historical relevance as the proposed sight of the Bridge to Nowhere. Although many politicians (Sarah Palin included) voted to build the bridge, it was never realized.

The cruise pretty much ended the tour, and we endured some more bad (but funny) jokes on the way back to the dock. Edra met us there, and we headed off for lunch.

After lunch, my dad decided to head back to the ship for a nap. The rest of us headed over to the Great Alaskan Lumberjack show to watch some burly men be manly. We didn't really care what they did; we just wanted to see some cute lumberjacks!

Mark went along with us, but he was more excited by the axe-throwing and souped-up chainsaws than he was impressed by the lumberjack's rugged good looks. Hey, to each their own!

The show was actually funnier than I expected. It kind of reminded me of a show at Sea World; you know, comedy and action all at once. There were two teams competing, one an American team and one a Canadian team (to simulate the rivalry that used to exist between the local loggers). Our team were the Canadians, and we cheered them on with a hearty "Ya-ho!" every time they won a task.

The two teams kept score by handing out wood chips at the end of each round. By wood "chip," I really mean a three-pound hunk of tree they'd sawed or chopped off a huge log. They handed these out to the kids in the audience, and of course, young master Mark received his very own. He was thrilled!

At the end of the competition (show), the lumberjacks posed for pictures. We'd been waiting for a lumberjack picture the whole trip! Mark was excited, too, for a different reason. He asked the lumberjacks to autograph his wood chip, which they all did. He was excited to bring home his authentic piece-of-Alaska souvenir, heavy as it was.





Then it was on to a different kind of logger -- er, lager. Our brochures each came with a coupon for a a free Alaskan Amber pint glass if we purchased an Alaskan Amber beer at a local pub. Now this we could happily do!

Since we'd been drinking Alaskan beer the whole trip, we all felt an affinity toward the beer. (Plus, we'd nicknamed Amber "Alaskan Amber" since she was...well, an Amber in Alaska!) We bellied up to the bar and ordered.

Mark couldn't come inside the bar, so he and my mom waited patiently outside. (We couldn't bring our beer to the outdoor patio.) I felt kinda guilty to be inside drinking beer while they were outside, so I downed mine pretty quickly and ordered one for my mom. Which was a bad idea, because it got me kind of buzzed.

My mom decided she didn't want hers, and came back to relieve me. She decided to return to the ship after we finished, and Mark asked if he could go with her. So off they went, leaving me in a bar with half a buzz, and another full beer.

Well, opportunities like that come few and far between, so we made the most of it. Amber, Edra, Kathleen and I finished our beers, then wandered a bit crookedly through the streets. We must've been quite the sight!

We made our way over to Creek Street to take some pictures. We found an actual red light, a lot of souvenir shops, and even a funicular. ("Funiculare!" I yelled to Edra, since we'd ridden a bunch in Italy, and she answered me back the same.)

Pretty soon, we needed a bathroom, which was the one thing the gift shops did not have. Someone pointed us toward a brown building, and we entered quite happily.

Turns out, it was the local Eagles' Club! It was dark and smoky, and inhabited by some locals playing computer gambling games.

We signed in as sponsored guests to a big book. The bartender then plied us with beers, except for Amber, who wanted to finish writing her postcards without distraction.

I glanced around the "club." There was a sign charting the donations toward the new T.V. fund ($70!) and my favorite, a flier for the "Rifle Raffle" fundraiser. First prize was a Magnum .44 rifle, second prize was a semi-automatic Luger, and third prize was a $100 Wal-Mart gift card (presumably for ammo). I smiled.

A new patron entered, and ordered a beer. He also asked the barkeep if he could run a load of laundry (there was a washer/dryer by the bathrooms), and the bartender ordered affirmatively, saying he had to transfer his clothes first. I love a colorful dive bar, and this one was perfect!

We finished our drinks, and Amber finished her cards, but we decreed it unfair that she was a drink behind us. We were running out of time, though, so we agreed she should do a shot.

"What kind of shot?" she asked, worriedly.

"Whiskey!" Edra ordered (she was serious), but the rest of us winced.

"No, a girly shot," I answered, but since I don't do many shots, I asked the bartender for a recommendation.

He made her a German chocolate cake shot, which also came with a sugared lemon wedge, for some reason. Amber gamely downed them both.

We hit up our last few gift stores. While we were in them, Amber and Edra's eyes grew big, as they recognized the star of last night's God-awful song and dance show. (The cruise ship shows were awful -- this was the second performance I'd attended, and it was so bad, we walked out of it!)
It was Adrian Zmed, formerly famous for co-starring on T.J. Hooker. I'd lambasted his performance, calling it the "Adrian Zmed I-Love-Myself Show" since it consisted mostly of him reminiscing about past shows he'd starred in.

But I had three beers in me now, so when I saw him, I asked if he'd mind posing with my friends. And then I gushed that I loved his show! (That was definitely the beer talking!)

Kathleen was so busy shopping for tacky gifts that she didn't notice it. She was kinda mad we'd left her out, but she didn't need to worry. Two minutes later, we ran into him again out on the dock! I asked if he'd mind taking one more picture with my cousin and he agreed. Kathleen said I was stalking him, but really, I was just trying to help her.

Finally, it was time to return to the ship. They were rolling up the gangway in less than 10 minutes, and my mom had repeatedly told me to be back on the ship on time. I think she was scared I'd miss the boat, and she'd have to keep Mark until we met back up in Vancouver.

Sure enough, I could see her on the balcony, scouting us out. She waved wildly, relieved to see us walking up the gangway.

The rest of the night included a nice dinner, and then onto the lounge for a bit. It was nice to enjoy the night out with my friends. I was really enjoying the Kid's Zone program, as was Mark. I picked him up at 10 p.m., just as it was ending, and headed back to my cabin for bed, happy and content, just as I'd been for the past couple weeks.

Feeding Frenzy

July 10

Today we sailed into our second port, Juneau. Today's excursion was whale watching, but I'd been wavering back and forth about whether to keep or cancel it. Going on the trip meant skipping Juneau altogether -- we'd be out at Mendenhall Glacier and out on the water right up until our ship left, and wouldn't have time to see any of the city.

We'd also seen so many whales the past few days that I thought maybe the trip would be redundant. I voiced my concerns to Vicki, our resident marine biologist, who implored me not to cancel.

"You'll get a chance to see the whales a lot closer," she said, and since she was the expert, I listened.

The Wawerchaks, Stricklands, Edra and Monica were all booked for an early whale watch -- their tour started at 7:30 a.m. I knew there was no chance of getting Mark off the ship by that time, so I'd booked the 10:15 tour instead.

We rode the bus through the city, as our driver noted the points of interest. He nodded toward the public library, conveniently built into a five-story cement parking structure, and to the elementary hill built at the base of a mountain known for its frequent avalanches. He pointed out the Governor's Mansion, and said they had a vacancy coming out at the end of the month, so anyone interested should apply.

I'd been wondering how the Alaskans felt about the governor resigning so abruptly, and I got my first insight here. The driver said most people in Juneau liked the Governor well enough, until she tried moving the capital of Alaska from its current location to Anchorage instead. Since 60% of the local jobs were government jobs, people in Juneau didn't take too kindly to the prospect of losing them.

We drove past other notable Juneau landmarks, such as the salmon hatchery, which releases 15 million baby salmon into the river annually (6-7 million return).

Twenty minutes later, he dropped us off at the Mendenhall Glacier. It was pretty cool to see a glacier from land -- this one was huge, and gorgeous.

The Mendenhall Glacier

Apparently, there's some good hiking, but also a lot of bears. Absolutely NO food, drinks or dogs are allowed in the trails due to all the bears, and I was a bit anxious about that. The driver said it was no problem for me to take Mark's test kit and glucose tabs with me, but I left my backpack full of snacks on the bus just in case. I'd read that bears can smell up to 10 miles away, and I'd rather not test that theory!

We only had an hour, so we strolled around the grounds, then went up to the visitor's center. We learned why the ice is so blue (because of the pressure of all the compressed ice, and because when light hits the ice, all the colors except blue are absorbed). We saw an interesting film about the glacier, and learned that it moves about 250 feet per year.

The visitor' center also had some stuffed bears -- grizzly, black and brown bears. I swear, everywhere we go has more (real!) stuffed animals and furs on this trip than I ever imagined seeing. If you wanna strike it rich, become a taxidermist in Alaska.

We loaded back onto the bus and headed over to Auke Bay. I'd cut up some Dramamine tablets, and was holding one in my hand, wondering if I should give it to Mark. He saw it, said, "Oh, is that for me?" then grabbed and swallowed it before I could answer. (Note to self: ALWAYS opt for the childproof pill bottles from the pharmacy!)

The bus drove right down onto the pier, dropping us directly in front of the boats. We opted for the top deck, which had an outdoor viewing area.

The boat motored off, and I knew one of two phrases would immediately pop out of Mark's mouth: "I'm bored," or "I'm hungry." Hungry won out, and he devoured two granola bars and a hamburger before we even left the bay.

The water was smooth and calm, and it was ANOTHER amazingly sunny day. I'd brought our big coats, but soon enough, I was wishing I'd brought t-shirts instead.

The naturalist began the narration, and eight minutes into our tour, we saw our first whale. Turns out it was something unusual -- a sleeping whale. (Who knew whales even slept?) Apparently, they sleep for 8-10 minutes at a time, closing down half their brains. It's just enough to rest up before swimming off again.

Even more unusual was that the sleeper was a baby humpback! While we waited for the little babe to wake up, Mama surfaced a little ways away. She was doing what most moms do while their babies nap -- scarfing down a quick meal.

Pretty soon the baby woke up, and wanted to play. The mom and calf splashed around in the water, diving, surfacing and exhaling. Calves aren't as strong as the parents, so when the baby dove down, it couldn't quite flip its tail into the air in the signature humpback move. I did get a decent shot of the mom's tale, though.

Whale tail

We couldn't believe our luck. A rare sunny day, a sleeping whale, a mom and calf frolicking together. It was turning out to be a pretty cool day.

The captain had to follow the endangered species law, which stated that we couldn't get too close to the whales and we couldn't stay bother them for longer than 30 minutes. It was with much regret that we pulled away from the two, and headed farther out.

However, our captain spotted something very interesting in the water and raced over to it. Multiple whale spouts!

This was unusual because humpbacks are solitary creatures (unless they're with their calves). Or unless they are working together to gather food -- which meant, we were about to go National Geographic and see something I'll never forget!!

I counted five spouts, and was thrilled to think there were five humongous whales beneath us. Suddenly, they broke the surface, and we saw several more spouts.

"They're bubble net feeding!" the naturalist exclaimed, and I could tell she was as excited as I was to witness this.

Bubble net feeding is how whales work together to catch fish. Basically, they form a huge circle, and dive down into the ocean. The largest female female dives last, and once underwater, she lets out a really loud scream that frightens all the nearby herring. The other whales start blowing bubbles, which further confuses the fish, who gather up in a protective ball and swim toward the surface. The whales then open their mouths, swim toward the top and swallow everything they can, including up to 2000 pounds of water, which spills out their side gills.

The whales dove and surfaced a few times, and we kept a careful eye on them. We saw the spouts, the fins, and the tails as they dove back down again. We watched the seagulls above, who seemed to know where the whales would re-surface (they hovered above, waiting for leftovers). My camera never stopped clicking.

Suddenly, we heard the most incredible sound ever, a crashing sound, as the water parted and a wall of humpbacks shot into the air! I am not kidding you, it was seriously a WALL of whales, each of them 2/3rds out of the water! The force they shot out with was unbelievable -- these guys weigh up to 80,000 pounds each, and they came barrelling out as though someone had literally shot them through the water with a gun.

There was a collective gasp on the boat, followed by a collective scream of excitement/joy/disbelief. I'd like to say I captured the wall of whales on film, but honestly, I was too stunned. Instead, I immediately screamed, "OHMYGOD!"

I watched the giants crash back into the water, then then tried to scrape my jaw off the floor. At no point during that dance of the sea creatures did it occur to me to shoot some pictures. I was simply mesmerized by the sight of those whales.

The entire boat went ballistic after that. Everyone was giddy, giggling, hugging each other and asking, "Did you see THAT?" We all felt so fortunate to witness such a rare sight. The naturalist announced she'd counted 21 tails diving down after that -- and there may have been even more whales, since they don't all surface during the frenzy!

I pushed my way through the crowds to find Mark. However, I couldn't find him anywhere, until I stepped inside the cabin and found him on the bench, like this.

Slacker boy!

The stinking kid was ASLEEP! I'd just witnessed the most incredible sight, and my kid slept right through it!

I tried waking him up to see the next feeding. He sat up long enough to see one whale break the surface and say, "Oh. A whale. Cool."

"Just wait," I told him. "In a minute, you'll see 20 more whales!" But he laid back down and immediately resumed his nap -- apparently, the Dramamine had kicked in, because that kid slept like the dead for the next three hours.

We watched the whales for another 20 minutes. They surfaced many more times, but never as high or impressive as they did that first time. I took loads of pictures, but they mostly all look like this -- shapeless black blobs breaking through the water.

Feeding frenzy

Although there was one exception -- a full breach! As the whales surfaced at one point, one lone whale shot up and over the rest of the other whales. It jumped COMPLETELY out of the water! I'd never seen a whale fly before, and luckily I was quick enough to shoot it just as it ascended.

Hallelujah!

Our naturalist was just beside herself with joy. She exclaimed that she'd grown up in Juneau and had never seen bubble net feeding and a full breach. "Just to tell how how rare this all is, the entire crew was outside with their cameras!" she told us.

Wow, I'm telling you...it was all so exciting that if there'd been a drink nearby, I'd have knocked it over for sure!

Before I knew it, our half hour was up, and we had to leave the feeding frenzy behind. I was so sad; there could not possibly be anything better than the humpbacks.

The captain took us to a little cove where there were some harbor seals resting. I didn't even uncap my camera; harbor seals are a dime a dozen where I'm from. I'd have only taken a picture if an orca jumped out right then and actually ATE one of the harbor seals! Now THAT would be worth photographing!

The captain then guided us toward the shore, on the lookout for bears. The island we floated past had a bear population of 90,000, but they it wasn't the right time of day to see any. (Maybe they all nap during the afternoon?) Even though I'd desperately searched for bears the whole trip, I could care less. Nothing was going to spoil my euphoria now!

We motored back into the bay, past a few more stray humpbacks. Just as we were pulling up to the dock, Mark rubbed his eyes and woke up.

"What'd I miss?" he asked, and I could only shake my head.

We arrived back at the ship just as the last stragglers were embarking. "Look up at the balconies," I told Mark. "I bet Grandma's looking for us, to make sure we get back on the boat on time." Sure enough, she was!

I couldn't wait to find Vicki and the other girls, and recount my experience. I ran into Edra and could barely spit out the words, "We saw whales -- bubble net feeding!"

"We did, too," she said, then continued with, "Now we're going to tea. Come on!"

So we did. I hadn't eaten lunch on the boat, so I was starving. I called my mom down to join us, and we dug into the cute little sandwiches and scones.

I told the group all about our trip, and listened as they shared a similar story. I was soooo glad they'd seen it, too -- the whole time I was on the boat, I kept thinking, "I CAN'T believe they all missed this!"

My parents had opted for a land excursion instead -- a lunch at the local salmon bake. Mom couldn't wait to tell us about her trip, so she asked if anyone had seen a bear today.

We all shook our heads no; we'd been on the bay.

"Well I did!" she cried, then told us the best story about how a mother bear and her two cubs walked RIGHT past my parents at the salmon bake. It seemed EVERYONE had and amazing day!

I can't even remember what happened the rest of that day or night. I'm sure we had dinner, and avoided the crappy dance show, but I can't really remember.

But I certainly never will forget those whales, that's for sure!

Make way for Skagway

July 9

Today we docked in our first port o' call -- Skagway.

Everybody had different tours planned -- Bill and Cindy were riding the Yukon Pass railroad, Kathleen and the Wawerchaks were going to the summit (they weren't quite sure where that was), Amber was going mountain biking, and my mom was going on a bordello tour. (Honestly -- she was so excited, she even convinced Kathleen to go with her!)

Mark and I had a different agenda. We were going to a musher's camp to ride a dog sled cart. Frankly, I'd seen enough dogs, but Mark really wanted to pet a husky puppy, and I had to throw the little dog a bone. I'd dragged him everywhere I wanted to go in Alaska, so I made sure he got to pet the pups.

We wandered out to the end of the pier and met up with our group. Our driver, Shiloh, joked that we were driving 10 miles out to Dyea on a treacherous gravel road with hairpin turns, but not to worry because this was her first time driving it and she was sure it would be fine. Well, she was only half-right -- it wasn't her first time driving it, but it was a thrill ride to be sure!

Like everywhere else in Alaska, it was a beautiful drive. Shiloh told us all about Skagway -- how the graduating senior class had 5 students: two were exchange students, four were girls, and there was one lucky guy on prom night; how trailer homes cost $300,000 because everything had to be shipped in to town; how they had a clinic but no doctor (nurses only); how expectant moms went to Canada a few weeks early so they could give birth to their children in a hospital with doctors. It was all pretty interesting.

We wound through the mountains and along an inlet. Sandbars covered the floor of the inlet, and you could walk all the way across if you wanted to. But Shiloh warned of the sudden high tides that came rushing in; they rose as high as 22 feet and came in like a flash flood. She also told us those sand bars would be covered by the time we returned, and she was right.

We made it to the musher's camp about 30 minutes later. We unloaded from the shuttle, and I smiled; purple wild irises dotted the entire landscape. We stood next to a winding river, and the grasses and trees were really tall. It was breathtaking.

But Shiloh rushed us over to two vans with big ol' 4-wheel tires. Two young girls drove us up a steep, narrow dirt road with sheer drops on either side. I'll admit I feared for my life a bit, especially as the vans were rolling side to side a bit and rocking dangerously close to the sharp edges of the cliffs. Mark took great delight in watching me clutch the seats until my knuckles turned white, and observed that this was kind of like a scary roller coaster ride.

Luckily, it was a short ride. We piled out of the vans. The dog teams, with 16 dogs each, were hooked to huge carts with six seats each.

The dogs are ready to RUN

We climbed aboard, and the dogs realized they were gonna run. They went NUTS, barking and yelping and jumping side to side. They just love to run, and it's the highlight of their whole day!

As soon as we were loaded, the musher released the brake and the dogs took off like a flash. They kept barking as they ran, but eventually calmed down and focused on the path. I couldn't stop smiling -- it was a blast!

About two minutes into the ride, the dogs all halted. There was another team ahead of us, also stopped at the bottom of a small incline. The musher explained that these were all working dogs -- they had all run in the Iditarod, or were training for it. Iditarod dogs are bred to be lean and fast, not big with muscles. The dogs could run up the hill, the musher explained, but pulling the carts would make them muscular, which trainers did not want. So instead, we waited until a tractor drove over, hitched up the dogs, and pulled them up the hill. It was pretty funny.

Because it was so hot, the dogs stopped halfway into the run for water. The trainer then ordered them up and off. They ran right past the kennels, and the dogs not running went ballistic, barking and jumping on their doghouses. (Shiloh told us later we were really lucky to ride the carts -- because of the heat, the dogs haven't run in days -- they overheat. But there were some fires in the Yukon, and the resulting haze overhead cooled down Skagway, enabling the dogs to run again. Just one more lucky break in our already lucky trip!)

The ride was over pretty quickly. We loaded back into the van and drove downhill for a demo of Iditarod clothing and gear.

The doghouses. The dogs love to lay on top of them!

Then it was on to Mark's favorite part, the puppies. There were three sets of them; two groups were really new, one- and two-weeks old, and hadn't even opened their eyes yet. The third group was 2 1/2 months old and much bigger. They were also sleeping, so when Shiloh started handing them out for people to hold, they didn't object.

Mark was a little freaked out to hold the puppies -- they looked half his size! But he finally sat on a bench and I handed one, and he was in heaven.

Yawning puppy. As soon as she woke up, she started chewing on Mark's jacket.

We had some time to look around and of course visit the ubiquitous gift shop. Mark purchased a stuffed husky puppy to go with the other husky stuffed animal he'd purchased.

"Oh, I guess you're big husky's a girl then, since she had a puppy," I said.

"No, it's still a boy," Mark told me. "He just adopted the puppy." That kid is too quick and too smart for his own good!

We returned to town along the beautiful gravel road. Along the way, we encountered horseback riders, rafters, and hikers. There were four cruise ships in town, and all of Skagway was running excursions to keep the tourists busy.

We drove back through the town, which was one long street of refurbished old buildings. The restaurants looked packed, so Mark and I returned to the ship for lunch rather than beat the huge crowds. The town population is about 800 people, but swells to 12,000 people on days like today, when the cruise ships are in town.

After lunch, we changed into into short-sleeved shirts to fight the heat, then moseyed back to town. (We have been incredibly lucky with the weather -- I was expecting cloudy, rainy weather but it has been sunny and warm every day! A total aberation, especially since it rained for 42 days straight last summer, which apparently is the norm for summer.)

We moseyed back to town, walking along the railroad tracks, which are famous because of their narrow gauge. (28 inch tracks instead of 32 inch ones -- not sure why that's important, except it means any parts must be handmade specifically for the track.)

The narrow gauge tracks

Every second shop was a jewelry store; the remaining shops were filled with tacky souvenir shops.

Somebody handed Mark a coupon for a free wooden train whistle, which I immediately regretted. I informed him he'd better blow it all he wanted in town, because I was putting it away once we got back on ship.

Totems in town

We fought through the crowds, and at one point, saw my mom and Kathleen walking down the street with their bordello tour.

"There's Grandma!" Mark shouted, waving furiously. "Let's go join them."

"We can't," I explained. "They're on a tour."

"So? We'll just join the tour, too."

I didn't want to explain that the tour was not really appropriate for 9-year-old boys, so I just told him we hadn't paid for the tour, so we couldn't tag along. Then I pointed to a nearby souvenir shop to distract him; the lure of cheap trinkets always wins out.

We met up with Kathleen and my Mom at the Red Onion Saloon after their tour. It was filled with tourists, ladies of the evening and even an old-style saloon piano player. We enjoyed an Alaskan Amber, the local beer brewed in Juneau, which we've been drinking at each stop.

The crowds were a bit much, especially since we hadn't been in large crowds of people much during the past week and a half. Besides, I didn't need any jewelry or trinkets, so we headed back to the ship.

My seasickness pills were affecting me so much I could barely keep my eyes open. So we skipped the dining room once again. Instead, my parents took Mark to dinner, and Kathleen came up to my room. We ordered room service sandwiches, and ate out on the balcony. It was very relaxing.

Around 7:30, the ship left port. Kathleen and I sat up top and watched Skagway disappear. It was so gorgeous, sailing away between all the trees and thick forests. We passed snow-capped mountains and lush forests, and even the occasional eagle soaring by overhead. It was the same scenery we'd passed the last two days, but I still couldn't get enough of it.

Alaska is really growing on me...

Spending the Day in Glacier Bay

July 8

Today is the big day…the whole reason I picked this cruise line and this itinerary. It’s time for our Glacier Bay Day!

Glacier Bay is a World Heritage Site, although I’m not quite sure what that means (and I’m feeling too lazy to Google it). What I do know is that people who’ve been raved about it, and I can’t wait to become one of those people!

I woke Mark up a bit early, so he could get to the Kid’s Zone by 9 a.m. Poor kid’s so exhausted that he actually cried and refused to get up. “I wanna sleeeeep!” he sobbed, but Mama wasn’t having any of that.

“It’s Glacier Bay Day!” I replied, like that meant anything to him. With a little more persuasion (i.e., I pulled him out of bed), he got up and dressed.

I took him up to the Kid’s Zone to participate in the Junior Ranger program. A Park Ranger was to narrate today’s passage through the park, but first he would make a special appearance with the kids. I didn’t want Mark to miss out.

I then made my way down to our pre-planned meeting area on Deck 7. Kathleen had suggested that deck because unlike the Lido Deck (yes, there really is such a thing), Deck 7 did not have the hazy blue glass balconies that are hard to see through when you’re sitting. Deck 7 also turned out to be a good choice for other reasons -- it had comfy wooden chaises and very few people.

I found Kathleen and Edra, then the Wawerchaks. They were all staring out into the ocean, binoculars scanning the horizon. We dropped our jackets, cameras, and other personal belongings onto the deck chairs, claiming at least 7 or 8 of them as our own.

The entrance to Glacier Bay National Park

It didn’t take long to spot the wildlife. We saw the telltale spout of a humpback not too far off, quickly followed by the tiny dorsal fin, and then the tail. A flock of seagulls tipped us off to another humpback, and then someone spotted a pod of orcas. There were whales literally EVERYWHERE -- we were shouting and pointing an unable to believe our eyes.

Suddenly, there was a huge explosion, as a humpback whale surfaced and exhaled not more than 10 feet away from us. It was so forceful and sudden that it surprised us, and our whole group screamed. We screamed from shock at first, but then with delight as we saw the whale dip back down below the ship.

My parents stopped by, as did the Stricklands, and pretty soon, it was a party. I tried to be calm (read: quiet) but I couldn’t help myself. It was just so exciting that I screamed with delight at each whale that I saw. Pretty soon, I didn’t have to worry about our area becoming crowded; I was scaring away would-be viewers with my volume.

Someone came by and said whales were spotted on the starboard side of the ship (we were on the port side). We scurried across to the other side and sure enough, we saw a pod of orcas. Have I said it was amazing enough times yet? Because it truly was!

Another benefit of the starboard side was that it was the sunny side of the ship. The port side had excellent views, but it was freezing cold. For the first time our whole trip, we actually used our heavy coats, gloves, scarfs and hats. It wasn’t a freezing cold, but it was windy and breezy, and we definitely needed our warmest clothing that day.

Ready for a day of whales and glaciers

I met a very nice Canadian woman who stopped her walk around the deck to ask what we were so darn excited about. We pointed out the whales, and she got excited as well. She was very sweet, and kept saying, “Eh.” As in, “You’re right, those are some whales, eh?” She said that she was trying really hard not to say “eh” so much, but the harder she tried, the more she said it.

She also remarked on the crisp, clear air, and marveled at how clean it was. I agreed, saying it was terrible where we lived. She asked where that was.

“Los Angeles,” I replied.

“It’s really bad, eh? Then why do you live there?” she asked.

I glanced at my beautiful surroundings, all the clean air and water, all the green trees and whales. I thought of all the open space here, and the crowded, smoggy freeways bursting with angry drivers back home. I was at a loss; I had no answer.

Then I remembered her telling me about the weather in Manitoba, how it dipped to 40 below during the winters.

“Well, the weather’s like this all year round in L.A.,” I told her, “That’s why we live there." She nodded. Sunny weather is reason enough for someone accustomed to 40 below.

While we waited for the Park Ranger to start narrating the tour, we kept scanning for wildlife. We were momentarily distracted by my dad, who'd found the hot chocolate cart.

"Taste this," he told me, passing me a "Monte Chocso" -- hot chocolate with shots of Grand Marinier and Kahlua in it. It was so good that we all purchased them, keeping the hot chocolate guy busy for another 15 minutes.

The Park Ranger started the narration, which began by pointing out a glacier on the port side. We gathered up our stuff and reclaimed our original spot, and marvelled at this amazing glacier.

Amazing!

No, I do not remember its name. I was too excited to retain much information, and too mesmerized by the bright blue ice!

I picked Mark up from the Kid's Zone, which closed during lunch, and brought him down to Deck 7. He stared at the glacier for all of two minutes before wondering aloud when we were gonna eat.

None of us wanted to take time away from the views to sit down for lunch. So we took turns going up to the Lido Deck Grill to grab lunch and bring it back down to our viewing spot.

It was like a whole different world up there! Whereas our deck was empty and quiet, the Lido Deck was loud and swarming with people. It was like a huge party. There was an open air buffet, and people everywhere. It was also about 15 degrees hotter, so the pool was teeming with swimmers enjoying the Alaskan glacier/tropical weather juxtaposition.

We grabbed our lunch and got the heck out of there. We returned to our quiet little corner of the world on Deck 7, which was peaceful and serene someone spotted some puffins. Then I jumped up (once again, overcome with excitement) and immediately knocked over my soda. I didn't even care -- I just left the mess there until after the puffins had passed by us.

Just after lunch, we reached the best part of Glacier Bay -- Marjorie Glacier. It was huge, a massive frozen river flowing down the mountain.

Marjorie Glacier from afar

It was as beautiful as all the previous glaciers, but the best thing about this one was how close we got to it. The captain drove the ship really close up, so that you could see how massively tall the glacier really was. For the first time, I really felt dwarfed by the humongous sheets of bright blue ice.

Marjorie Glacier up close

Mark was again impressed for all of five minutes. I escorted him back to the Kid's Zone precisely at 2 p.m., then returned to stare at the glacier.

Besides being really close to the glacier, we got to see something else really great -- the glacier calving! That's right, as we stood there, the glacier put on a show for us, dropping huge pillars of ice into the ocean. You saw it first, a tiny movement, followed by the chunking ice and splashing water. Then you heard it, a noise the native Alaskans called the "white thunder" -- a thunderous crash and explosion as the ice crashed into the water. If you heard the noise, it was too late -- the ice had already broken off, so we kept our eyes tightly focused on the glacier.

It paid off, too, because we got to see the glacier calf two or three times. Here's a shot from one of the biggest calvings we witnessed:



It was SPECTACULAR.

The captain did a phenomenal job of ensuring everyone got a close-up view of the glacier. He turned that huge ship around like nobody's business for the better part of an hour. Each time he moved the ship, we simply ran to the other side of the boat to stare some more.

Right before our trip, I bought a big, fancy zoom lens for my camera (a Nikon70-300 mm lens). I'd fretted about the expense and whether I really needed such a huge, heavy lens. Let me say that after zooming in on the glacial ice, I don't regret one penny of that purchase!



It was the most fantastic day. We stayed out on deck all afternoon, until I had to go pick Mark up from Kid's Zone again at 5 p.m.

On the way back to our room, I stopped at my parent's. My mom threw open the door and yelled, "Whale off the balcony!" at me. I ran out to her balcony, Mark close on my heels.

And was treated to the most beautiful sight ever! There was a humpback out in the water, having the best time ever. We watched it diving, applauding as its tail broke the surface. The whale came up and playfully slapped the water with its pectoral fins a few times, then dove back down again. Suddenly, it burst from the water, breaching! It came halfway out of the water, then fell backwards. There was a gasp, then applause from all the balcony viewers.

The best part was that the whale repeated this a bunch more times! It breached probably four or five times, until the boat finally sailed too far away to see any more.

Because we didn't want to miss any more shows like that, we skipped the dining room, and ate at the buffet instead. The moment we finished, we returned to our beloved Deck 7.

We were leaving Glacier Bay, and the whale sightings became few and far between. We did see a lot of otters sailing past us, and Kathleen spotted a bear on a nearby island. (She has some serious eagle eyes -- she was an expert spotter!)

We also watched the pilot boat speed up to the ship's side so the Park Ranger naturalist could disembark. As we were watching that, we spotted more pods of orcas, and then Kathleen spotted a whole bunch of humpback whale spouts in the distance. We watched all those whales for another hour; they just kept popping up right next to us!

We stayed outside the entire day, for at least 12 hours. Seriously, we blew off our fancy meals, the ship's entertainment, the bars, the nightclub, and spent our whole day out on that deck.

And I can honestly say as boring as that sounds, it was one of the best days of my entire life.

Back to College

July 7

Don’t know if I mentioned it or not, but I’m on vacation…not that you could tell by my daily wake up times.

Today’s alarm was set for 6:30, but due to excitement, I woke up well before 6.

The reason? The College Fjord. According to Wikipedia, fjords are long, narrow inlets with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial activity. And that’s what I was looking for -– glacial activity.

Our ship creeped into the fjords early, which is why I awoke early myself. I couldn’t wait to see them!

I’ve run Mark ragged the entire trip, and I knew he’d be bored after the first glacier, so I let him sleep. This was a major factor in getting a balcony for the cruise -– so I could sit out there and watch Alaska go by without leaving my room, or waking the kid.

Before I could enjoy the scenery, I had to attend to my guests. The first guest arrived at 6:15 -– the room service steward, bearing croissants, fruit, yogurt and coffee. He set it all up on the balcony, and then bid me a good morning. The next visitor was my cousin Kathleen, who helped me eat the room-service breakfast, and also basked in the glacial glory with me.

College Fjord was what I thought glaciers would be, at least partially. As we sailed into the bay, I saw bits of ice floating everywhere, both large and small chunks. There was still snow capping the mountains, and ice all along the shore.

Ice galore

I will admit my ignorance here, and state for the record that I thought glaciers were essentially giant mountains of ice. They’re actually frozen rivers of ice flowing between mountains, running down to the ocean. Because snow constantly falls, the ice compresses and packs down, and travels down the mountain. The glaciers move all the time, some up to 250 feet a year, as pieces fall off (called “calving”) into the ocean.

However, “river” doesn’t quite do them justice, because the section that ends at the shore can be 300 feet tall. That’s right, a 300-foot tall WALL of ice! And the most amazing thing about the wall is its color -– a deep beautiful blue that takes your breath away.

Our first glacier close-up

So there we were, 6:30 in the morning, watching the sun “rise” (it never really went down), and passing by these beautiful glaciers.

Sunrise in College Fjord

The glaciers in the fjord were named by the Harriman expedition for elite East Coast colleges, women’s on the Northwest side, men’s on the Southeast side.

That’s about all I learned, because the tour narration came over the T.V., which I didn’t turn on for fear of waking Mark. But the silence actually enhanced, rather than diminished, the time. It was the most serene sight, and Kathleen and I silently took it all in.

Well, Kathleen was silent anyway. In keeping with the theme of the trip, I was again in a state of constant over stimulation. I am truly surprised that my head did not explode from the excitement of it all.

The balconies surrounding us and below us were packed -– no one wanted to miss the view. They were all respectfully quiet, admiring their surroundings. I tried to follow their example, until I heard a large crackling from the glacier, and my excitement overcame me.

“IT’S CRACKING!” I shouted excitedly, and watched 200 pairs of eyes turn simultaneously toward me, who had ruined their peace. “Sorry!” I whispered apologetically to them, and tried to compose myself.

That lasted for all of 10 minutes, until we pulled up to the next beautiful glacier. Once again, I jumped up excitedly, knocking over my huge cup of coffee. This became a secondary theme of our cruise -– Heather spilling her drinks on all the decks in excitement.

I finally calmed down enough to enjoy the sights. It really was breathtaking. The sunrise made it even prettier, as the red streaks of sun shone down on the ocean, and the bright blue chunks of ice. It was like a contrasting “fire and ice” scene, and I couldn’t stop taking pictures of it all. (I probably took 200 pictures during our three hour trip into the Fjord.)

"Fire and ice"

The blue and red contrast colors

As the sun came up, we were treated to other cool views, too. We saw some harbor seals sleeping on ice chunks, and then the otter parade started. In a span of about 10 minutes, five or six otters floated right past the ship, right below us. That was pretty exciting!

We even set up a wildlife telephone tree. Edra and Amber also had a balcony, in the front of the ship. Whenever they saw an otter, they called my room, which was mid-ship, so I could see it float past.

Did I mention we got another warm, sunny day? This guy was watching the glaciers from his balcony -- in shorts, a t-shirt and flip-flops!

I kept waiting for Mark to wake up and take in the beauty, but he slept on. So I enjoyed it for him. As did Kathleen, who returned to her room after leaving the College Fjord.

Mark finally woke up an hour later, after we were far away from the glaciers. He had good timing too, because as I was standing on the balcony enjoying the view, I saw some fins cut through the water.

“Mark!” I yelled across the cabin (he was maybe eight feet away from me). “Come look! I see whales or dolphins!”

I grabbed my binoculars and zeroed in on the splashing fins. I counted five or six of them, and then, to my surprise, one of the animals popped out of the water. I got a clear view of its head –- white and black coloring! I grew up in San Diego, home of Sea World, and I recognized that coloring immediately.

“ORCAS!!” I shouted triumphantly, and my balcony neighbor cheered along with me (she’d been lured out by my shouting).

“It was awesome! And even better five minutes later, when I saw a flock of seagulls dive down toward the water, and then ANOTHER pod of orcas break through the surface. I couldn’t believe it! We knew there was a possibility of spotting orcas in Vancouver, but I didn’t expect to see them this far north.

I was beside myself with excitement, and if I’d had any more coffee near me, I’d have spilled it right then and there.

It was a sea day, meaning we’d spend the day on the ship with no ports of call. We made the best of it, attending a martini demonstration, a wine tasting, lunch and even a little more balcony viewing. (Mark spent his afternoon in the Kid’s Zone, which he loved.) It was also our first formal night, so we prepared for that as well.

Formal night was fun. Mark looked very dapper in his suit, and I dressed up a little too. I surprised my family and friends by showing up to dinner on time –- I didn’t know they were decorating the tables with birthday swag. (The trip was a celebration for my -– gulp -– 40th birthday.)

It was hilarious –- there were little 40 confetti pieces everywhere, and as soon as I sat, they presented me with a birthday girl sash, some 40th birthday beads, a button that lit up, and a Princess Diva tiara. I put it all on, then observed that we’d make a complete mockery of formal night!

We celebrated with champagne, a nice dinner, and multiple desserts and singing wait staff. I laughed a lot that night!

My friends had also written up a scavenger list of things to complete in honor of my birthday celebration. I completed about 15 of them that night (wear my tiara, ask a stranger to dance, take my picture with a bartender, tell someone it’s my birthday and have them sing me a song).

My favorite one was “Play $5 on number 40 on the roulette table.” We don’t play roulette enough to know it only goes up to 36! I lamented, “I’m too old to play roulette!”

But then we decided to split the numbers up. Edra gave me 10 $1 chips, and I put one on 4 and another on 0, with no luck. For the second spin, I placed 2 chips on number 20. Just as the wheel slowed down, the ball made its way toward 37, and I said, “Oooh, I forgot to push my button!” So I pushed the button, which lit up my flashing 40th birthday button, and poof! The ball hopped into number 20 and I WON!!!

We all screamed with excitement, even though we had no idea how much I’d won. Turns out I cleared $76 off that $2 bet! We were a fit of giggles and shrieking laughter, and immediately headed to the bar so I could fulfill another item on my list, “Do a shot with your friends.”

Between the Kid’s Zone and my mom, Mark was taken care of, so we spent our night out on the town…err, boat. Next, we hit the New Year’s Eve party on the boat, which ended at 11:45 p.m. (not sure why!) We stayed out for our latest night yet, until 12:30. It was a blast.